I Love You, Charlie Brown
by suspenceme
Summary: Rachel and Lucy. On a field trip, Rucy meet and immediately hit it off. And for once, Lucy doesn't worry about tomorrow.


Yellow. Yellow was her favorite color. It was happy and bright and it reminded her that tomorrow there's a new day and maybe, just maybe, everyone would be different towards her. Maybe they'd start to actually like her.

But that day wasn't today.

She just wished it were.

Her stomach growled…her stomach always growled. She didn't feel hungry she didn't want to eat but it was the only thing to keep her stomach from yelling at her all day. She didn't bring a snack today though so she was thankful it was time for their lunch break.

She didn't see it coming.

Lucy hissed as her hands caught her fall on the rough pavement. She shifted her weight and stood, her face ablaze with mortification and shame. Her eyes stayed glued to the ground not daring to look up at the snickering children around her.

'Watch where you're going, Pudge-face' was sneered in her face as her wretched nickname 'Caboosey' registered from multiple locations throughout the courtyard. Tears welled in her eyes as she bent down, squatting to pick up her scattered lunch. Her favorite Charlie Brown lunch box had snapped open during her fall and all its contents spilled out across the courtyard's cobblestone.

She hissed again as her palm grazed her drink. She sank to her knees staring at the angry red lines slashed across each palm. Small pieces of rock wedged in the open cuts causing her to wince every time she attempted to pick them out.

Where were the teachers, the chaperones that were supposed to be watching them?

"Here." A small hand holding a wrapped peanut butter and jelly sandwich made its way into her view. She blinked in surprise at the soft tone directed towards her. Lucy looked up before taking the proffered sandwich, still in shock. "I saw what happened. Those boys played a dirty trick tripping you like that. What if you had fallen down the steps? You could have been seriously injured. Then we'd have to call the ambulance and our field trip would be cut short and I'm just having too much fun here for those boys to just ruin it for the rest of us. I think they need a stern talking to." The girl rambled on but Lucy remained silent still holding onto the sandwich as if trying to gauge if this was actual reality or not.

It was strange, this loquacious girl and the situation itself. She was allergic to peanuts. Of course the girl had no idea of Lucy's allergy, but she couldn't help but feel that this may have been the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her, an offered sandwich of friendship that could bring her death.

How tragic that Lucy wanted nothing more than to eat the deadly thing.

"Oh my, you're bleeding." A gasp from the standing girl brought her out of her staring contest with the sandwich to notice that yes, she was bleeding as she saw a red line trail down her wrist. The girl took her hand in hers and procured a napkin faster than Lucy's mind could gather and held it to her palm.

She felt like her hand was on fire, but not in a bad way. She had a funny feeling in her stomach but it wasn't a growl. Heat coated her cheeks as she realized she was practically holding the stranger's hand.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch your name. Pudge-face and Caboosey don't strike me as the best names for a beautiful girl like you." If at all possible, Lucy felt her face grow hotter. "Are you shy? That's all right if you are. My daddy says that some people are shy at first because I'm a very loud spoken individual. But my dad says that they could come around after awhile and to just give them time. I—"

Lucy found it strange that this girl talked so much and that she spoke of her father as if he were two separate people. The girl was an enigma.

"—Charlie, I'll call you Charlie because of you're lunch box. Is that okay?" The girl asked. Lucy only gave a slight nod before the girl smiled and continued to talk.

They sat on the steps after gathering up her dirtied food and lunch box. Lucy managed to salvage most of her meal and reluctantly gave back the offered sandwich. Lucy sat in silence listening to the girl next to her as they ate their lunches. But then the brunette quieted finding her pudding cup at the bottom of her lunch sack.

Lucy smiled as she watched the girl struggle to open the cup. Lucy held out her hand to offer help, which the girl reluctantly gave, not trusting her new friend to not steal the dessert. She loved her pudding cup but many of her tormentors at her own school liked to steal it away from her whenever they could. This was the first time in 3 weeks she would be able to eat it. At least she would if she could get it open.

Lucy successfully opened the cup and handed it back over without delay and with a shy smile on her lips. The girl smiled back thanking her before procuring a spoon as if by magic. It was the first time the two sat in complete silence for an extended period of time. It wasn't awkward for Lucy as she thought it would be.

Lucy pulled out her bruised banana and started peeling each side when she heard quiet humming bubble up from the girl next to her. She glanced over recognizing the song almost instantly; it was from her favorite movie after all.

_Somewhere over the rainbow  
Skies are blue,  
And the dreams that you dare to dream  
Really do come true._

Lucy sang quietly along not looking at the girl next to her. She pulled at the banana peel self consciously as the humming dwindled down before stopping. "s-s-sorry." Lucy mumbled cheeks red with embarrassment and shame once again. She just had to go and sing along.

"Charlie…" The girl started. "You have a very beautiful voice." Lucy's cheeks reddened in a new way at the compliment.

"Thank you…" Lucy paused before looking over at the girl. "I-I don't even know your name."

"Oh well that is easily rectified. My name Rachel Barbara Berry, future Broadway star and American icon." Rachel took up Lucy's hand shaking it haphazardly as she continued to speak. "I was named after Barbara Streisand you know—"

Lucy pulled her hand back in fear of it being ripped off by the continuous shaking. She laughed playfully when Rachel didn't seem deterred by the retraction. Words tumbled out of Rachel's mouth faster than Lucy could comprehend. She blinked in awe of the girl as she started singing softly to Lucy.

Rachel seemed to blush under Lucy's gaze. "I'm sorry. I thought you'd like to hear—"

"No, no. I liked it." Lucy hastily stated still in awe of her new friend. "A lot." She added.

"I'm glad." Rachel beamed. A whistle blew and their smiles faltered as they stared in opposite directions towards their school groups. "I guess it's time to finish the tour."

"Yeah…" Lucy rubbed her hands together before standing and gathering her things. Rachel stood also gathering her things.

"It was really nice meeting you, Charlie." Rachel said. "This was the best lunch I've ever had."

"Me too." Lucy paused looking at Rachel. "Will I ever see you again?"

Rachel turned and caught eyes with Lucy. She smiled as she took her hands. "We're friends now right?" She asked, receiving a vehement nod from the other girl. "Well then of course then, silly." They walked towards the trashcans attempting to elongate their time together.

"You're like a little Tweety bird, nothing gets you down." Lucy commented after tossing their trash into the bins.

"Daddy said once that pessimists see only the difficulty in opportunity but optimists see the opportunity in every difficulty. Our new found friendship will be difficult…but you're still a friend and that's means a lot." Rachel reasoned.

"It means a lot to me, too Tweety." Lucy blushed never haven given a nickname to someone.

Rachel smiled and bit her tongue, she had a nickname. "I've never had a nickname before…I like it."

"Me too." Lucy admitted. They stood staring at each other before Lucy found herself engulfed by the small girl. Her arms closed on instinct returning her first friend hug.

"G' bye Charlie. I'll see you soon, yeah?" Rachel asked as she stepped out of the hug.

"Y-yeah, Tweety. Soon."

Lucy watched her go as Rachel walked away.

And that day with her yellow lunch box and favorite yellow sweater she found a friend to call her own. She'd always liked yellow. It was her favorite color after all. It is bright and cheerful and always said that there was a better tomorrow.

But right now, Lucy was just fine with her yellow of today. 


End file.
